Automation Direct

I have never purchased an Automation Direct product, but I have some catalogs and I have read a few things about this company. Their prices are attractive, but I'm always suspicious about getting what I pay for. I'm not in a position where I must scrimp to find the cheapest possible thing and make it work, but I do try to keep my options open to find the most cost-effective and efficient solution for every application that I design.

So how do their PLCs, HMIs, software, service, documentation, and other automation products seem to stack up to the rest of the industry's "budget" automation products?

I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here

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edit: I found this thread and I anticipate it will answer some of my questions. But any other comments are still welcome here.

Their products are excellent quality. They have good tech support too.

For my general applications I consider AutomationDirect.com the best overall value. I don't use their PLCs for applications that have an extraodinary amount of calculations, but other than that they are my first choice. The HMIs are great, with only the lack of time and date stamps on their trends keeping me from unequivocal endorsement.

Tech support is excellent. I wouldn't recommend them for someone who has never done any automation or PLC work before because in that case face to face support and an on site review of the system can be very valuable. If you have even a little experience though, they can talk you through most problems quickly and efficiently.

Their hardware is good quality - perhaps not as bullet proof as some of the old established products but as good as the newer offerings from any manufacturer. Pogramming software has some limitations, but it is intuitive and easy to learn and use. That includes PLCs and HMIs.

Automation JUNK .com

This product line has GREAT functions, Networks etc. for the system Integrator who needs the lowest cost option when quoting a project. In the long run our experience has been multiple failures of I/O units, communication failures wuth network interfaces and overall F--kups.
If you are looking for the lowest cost get in and get out quick option they are great. For long term reliability they SUCK.

Have had some failures with DL-06 but AD replaced them the next day.

For the price I really like the touchscreens. Just installed one of the new C-more style ones and it is working fine.

And jsut for the record AD doesnt really make any of the stuff they sell. They are more like a distrubitor.

Never had a tech question not get answered even if the answer was "I do not know what could have went wrong let me send you another one"

But like others have said. These are no buzzers and whisles componets.

I needed a high speed count module for a project and found that AD's ctrio module had more of the functions I needed. AB's hsce2 couldn't do the job. One other thing, although it might me comparing apples to oranges I haven't had an AD 205 fault for odd reasons but AB's micro 1000's fault regularly. (hardware fault)

Just my 2 cents

Genius, glad to hear the AD PLCs are working out for you.

Bits N Bytes, sorry you had such lousy luck with them.

Money4Nothing, I think you'd be very surprised at how reliable the AD PLCs are and how much bang for the buck you get out of the DL06 in particular. If you can't fit everything into a DL06 take a look at the 205 series with the 250-1 CPU or the 260 CPU. The C-More HMI line is also great. I've always found the documentation to be very good and their tech support is excellent even though its limited to phone support... actually I've decided that the phone support is a plus because you can get several techs (and the engineers) putting their heads together on the really odd-ball problems. DirectSoft 5 is pretty easy to use, but I'm probably not the best judge of that since I've been a AD user since the days of DS2.

I have used AB, Omron, Idec and AD. I have around 50 AD 250-1 CPU's in the field and have yet to see a failure. The first one I did about 6 years ago was intentionally placed in a cabinet, without a cooling fan, that runs about 160F. I wanted to see how tough they were, and am happy to say that it still runs fine.

The tech support is free and you don't get put on hold forever. Also, their forum is a very good source of information.

I like A. Direct. They help me keep my budget in check. If I was starting from a green field, I might even use their PLCs. But I have found that my Allen Bradley PLCs are hard to beat in my applications, the plant already has a investment in AB software, and I have 20 years of experience programming them.

But I love thier touch panels, their contactors, thier discreet switches, and their sensors.

Ill probably be fooling around with one of thier drives shortly, the GS3 in 40 HP on a small extruder that I want to convert from DC to AC power.

I use AD stuff for about 2 year.
I use PLCs HMIs sensors encoders ect.
Unfortunately I got the stuff after 2 weeks but that its my only complain.
The documntion is easy and clear and the tech support is graet.
I use AD for small and medium application.
I never see PLC like DL06 which offer so much option with that price.

The biggest disadvantage is the DS5,its one generation behind others.
For short code is not a problem, but with haevy code it become a problem.

From business point of view.AD is the future model.

Hmmm, it looks like AD's ABS type approval for marine rating is still pending. That temporarily eliminates them from my list of options. Too bad.

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